Camille and Lily's World

Primrose character costume parade

2011-04-20T13:45:00.002-06:00

Lily in her book character costume parade last month. Lily was "Fancy Nancy."

This is her best friend Taylor. Taylor came to play at our house last Saturday while Camille and Daddy were gone camping. The girls had a blast and Lily pouted terribly when she had to leave!!!

YMCA campout last weekend with Daddy

2011-04-20T13:36:00.003-06:00

Camille at evening ceremonies beating the drum.

Camille's catch! She's going to need a new fishing pole because her other broke.

Even though it was a bit cold, they couldn't keep the girls out of the water.

Ready for the "Screamer." Camille swung back and forth like a pendulum by a cable from a tall pole. Eeek!

Zip line!

Don't their ropes look like hair braids? The gear was heavy!

Dizzy Daddy pulling Camille to victory in a wagon race after spinning around 50 times with his head on a bat. Matt said the tracks were like a zig zag!

Coming out of the water slide:)

Bluebonnets 2011

2011-04-20T13:19:00.002-06:00

Camille and Lily in the bluebonnets! Too bad I didn't bother to have them change into some photo-worthy clothes. The picture of them together was the last picture taken, after which Lily refused to be cooperative at all. She had a tantrum saying Camille was "touching" her and "hurting her hair." I guess it was the end of a long day for Lily:)

February gymnastics meet

2011-02-28T22:02:00.002-06:00

Camille had a wonderful time at her February gymnastics meet. She was just all smiles! She fell off the beam during her performance. I asked her if it was because she was nervous. She said "No...I was just scared because there were A LOT of people watching!"

Camille is holding a big lolly pop because these were given in the place of medals for the "Lolly Pop Meet."

Father-Daughter Dance

2011-02-28T21:56:00.004-06:00

Matt said Camille was hard to photograph at the dance because she was contantly playing with her friends. The dance was at the Dallas Arboretum. Lily and her little friend Harper were inseparable and full of energy.

more pictures

2011-02-28T21:52:00.003-06:00

Cute Dresses from Grandma!

Camille loves to have Archie on her lap. I guess Archie was helping Camille practice piano.

February Snow

2011-02-28T21:44:00.002-06:00

Yes, I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted to the blog. I almost forgot how!

Here are some fun snow pictures from our big February snow. We had a fun day building a snow fort and playing in the snow!

Matt's July birthday

2010-08-20T22:14:00.002-06:00

Though Matt's 34th birthday won't go down in history as his happiest birthday since it unfortunately coincided with the death of Matt's uncle Robert Reid, we tried to make the best of it. The girls made him Mickey/Minnie characters from Sculpie clay in excitement of our upcoming vacation. They also helped make his cake, including the valentine's day heart sprinkles on top.

Summer dance class

2010-08-20T22:03:00.002-06:00

Here is a late picture from Camille and Lily's summer dance class performance. Lily wasn't interested in wearing her props during the clown themed show. Camille was really got into the dancing. Lily just has a good time where ever she goes (except when it comes to wearing an itchy paper hat and stinky clown nose:)

Summer Sports!

2010-06-28T22:56:00.002-06:00

Sorry it's taken me months to get this blog updated!

Camille and Lily having fun with the sprinkler.

We had to have swimming lessons homework time in the bathtub time on night. A small bribe was effective in getting them to overcome fear of putting their faces in the water. Now after 3 weeks of lessons they are swimming like little fish in the shallow end! Camille now says swimming is her favorite thing to do in the world:)

End of Kindergarten!

2010-06-28T22:51:00.002-06:00

Camille with her friends Tatum, Julia, and Emma H.

Camille with her friend Ainsley.

Camille with Emma G. and Gareth.

Camille with her teacher Ms. Muller.

VBS

2010-06-28T22:38:00.004-06:00

Camille and Lily both had a great time at vacation bible school this year. I taught in Lily's class, and the kids were a lot of fun. The theme was Saddle Ridge Ranch, and the kids all liked the cowboy stuff and songs. We brought Camille's friend Madison with us for the week, and they had a blast together. She got to play at our house for the afternoons too.

Despite what the wagon photo appears, Lily was not scared of the wagon. She loved it. She was just mad that we made her come back to take a picture! What a little stinker!!

Arboretum

2010-06-28T22:32:00.003-06:00

It's hot outside, but Camille and Lily love to spend time at the Dallas Arboretum. They have had exhibits with the Beatrix Potter stories, and they are so adorable! Camille and Lily love an adventure, and finding Mr. McGreggors garden required a 2nd day trip to the Arboretum.

We followed this real rabbit around trails, and it was very exciting to Camille and Lily. He was our real life Peter Rabbit.

Spring arrived!--May 2010

2010-06-28T22:20:00.002-06:00

These mallard ducks came to our front yard in the mornings and we fed them a few times while waiting for Camille's school bus. They were timid at first, but not for long. I would bet these are the same ducks that were searching around our yard during that last snow storm. Then the other day (June 26th) I pulled the car out of our garage and looked back to see a tiny baby duck running into the garage. He was chirping away. I took pictures with my phone but I have to figure out how to get those on the blog. I ended up taking him to the side yard and letting him go in the shade. The girls were very excited! I hope he found his parents, but it's not like we could raise a duck in the back yard! I have no idea where the nest is.

We went out with my dad on his boat and the girls had a great time swimming. Lily was nervous but really wanted to go. They were so cute.

Spring is fun.

Camille and Lily love to eat outside.

Bye, bye CRV--Hello MiniVan--May 2010

2010-06-28T21:59:00.002-06:00

We decided that we needed to cut our losses with the CRV. I decided that the minivan fits my uses the best, and it's been great so far. I think Camille must have taken this picture too:)

Zoo field trip with Camille's class--May 2010

2010-06-28T21:53:00.002-06:00

There were lots of parents who went on the field trip. So, I only had Camille and one other girl in my group.

Camille took this elephant picture. It cracks me up. Really??!! She thought this was a picture worth taking!!

Sky Ranch Campout--April 2010

2010-06-28T21:41:00.003-06:00

Camille and Matt had a great time with the YMCA princesses campout back in April. While it wasn't snowy like the previous campout, it really wasn't very warm. Matt said it was some really cold swimming but Camille was enthusiastic about everything. Matt had his hands full this trip chaperoning Madison as well since her Dad had to work that weekend. Camille is very proud of her vest. In the picture you can't see that the sides of the vest have fringe with beads down the seam, which she worked hard on.

Riding the bucking bronco!

Here is Camille suspended after free swinging after being let go on a tether from a telephone pole height. She loved it.

This was right before they went down the zip line.

Camille lost her front tooth at Camp too. It was a big weekend. The toothfairy even found her at camp!

Camille's spring Kindergarten program--April 2010

2010-06-28T21:28:00.005-06:00

We have been very impressed with Camille's school, and their program was great too. The kids are all so engaged. In this song they were doing dance moves too.

Here is Camille during her speaking part. She was thrilled to have a speaking part and very motivated to practice her lines!

Lily was trying to steal the show dancing with a friend off to the side with her purple hair:) This was after she announced loudly while sitting on Matt's lap "Ha, ha, I tooted on you!"

All the kids used some sort of instrument during the program. Camille has a rainstick here.

Bluebonnets--April 2010

2010-06-28T21:24:00.002-06:00

We nearly missed bluebonnet season this year. They were past prime before our first photo session. Unfortunately I took the girls myself the first time, not knowing that the camera was in a strange setting. On the second attempt several days later there were many fewer flowers and less enthusiastic subjects, but we got this cute one of Lily.

Zoo

2010-04-05T15:11:00.006-06:00

After the storms let up on Friday we headed over to the zoo. Camille had a day off school and Matt was off work. Matt will be starting his new job at the FDIC on the 12th and is enjoying a little time off between jobs. It was perfect because there were very few people there. Camille especially enjoyed getting to hold a bird on her shoulder and on her finger. Lily didn't want to hold the bird, but she loved feeding a bird a little treat. The carosel was the height of anticipation to finish off the end of our zoo trip. I don't know if it lived up to expectation or not. They both looked like they were having a good time, though.

They had lots of fun climbing through a tunnel and popping up into observation domes to see the little animals (I can't remember what they're called).

In this last picture Lily is sitting next to a tiny bronze mouse that she likes on the rock.

YMCA Father-Daughter dance

2010-04-05T14:59:00.003-06:00

Camille and Matt looked so cute going to the father-daughter dance at the YMCA. Camille danced her little heart out. Matt said she wore him out by swinging on him. Her friend Madison went with her dad as well. They had a blast! Camille started off in her fancy shoes and tights. I sent flip flops with her just incase her feet started hurting. Matt said she ended up spending most of the night in bare feet.

On the hunt for Easter eggs!

2010-04-05T14:40:00.002-06:00

Here are pictures from the egg hunt with Lily's class at Primrose.

I went to hide eggs for both Camille and Lily's classes at school, but I forgot my camera for Camille's egg hunt. Camille's hunt was especially cool because all three kindergarten classes were combined for the hunt. Each egg was labeled with one of 6 simple shapes. Each child's basket was labeled with one shape and the child was only allowed to pick up eggs with his/her matching shape. This made the egg hunt more challenging and last longer for kids this old. The field was really pretty with 750 colored eggs scattered around. I hope I can get a photo from another parent.

I must not have had the camera setting correct during the egg hunt at the park with our Sunday School friends because it's really washed out. The kids had fun despite the windy, cold day.

Lily on a big girl bicycle

2010-03-24T22:17:00.002-06:00

Lily was very excited to ride a big girl bicycle for the first time. She is quickly learing how to use the bike, but she's so silly that riding correctly is much less fun than being a goof. She has to stop frequently to ring the bell.

Galveston

2010-03-24T22:07:00.005-06:00

We went to Houston for a few days over spring break to visit Nana and Papa while Matt worked in Houston anyway. We tried to go to the zoo on Saturday, but the weather was perfect and the entire parking lot at the zoo was full. We decided to go down to Galveston instead. That worked out well since Camille needed to do a report for school on some town in Texas. We chose Galveston. We toured the Moody Mansion and the girls had a blast in the ocean. You can see from the picture series that first they got their toes wet, then a little deeper, then acted a little more wild, then became a bit wetter, and finally all muddy. Too bad we didn't have any change of clothes with us. I don't know why I thought they could wade without getting their clothes wet. Lily fell in a sat down in the ocean within a couple of minutes. Camille and Lily both had a blast, and that's what it was all about.

ANOTHER snowy day in Dallas!

2010-03-24T21:55:00.002-06:00

We woke up to another snowy day on Sunday. It was impressively thick again. The temperature was warm, so most of it melted that day. After church, the girls went out to play in the snow and had fun building another snowman. We didn't see anybody else out playing (last time we had the big snow there were snowmen all over the neighborhood). The funniest part was when I looked out the and saw a pair of mallard ducks walking up our front walk. Apparently Mama Duck was looking for something because she walked all around our flower beds. Those are duck prints in the snow on the front walk.

I took some good advice from a friend (thanks, Lauren) for Texans who don't usually need snow boots by covering their shoes with grocery bags and rubberbands. It worked like a charm. Dry feet!!

YMCA pinewood car derby

2010-03-24T21:51:00.002-06:00

Camille and Matt had a fun time building a pinewood derby car for the YMCA race. Camille's friend Madison was at the race too. It was a LONG day of waiting for races. Camille's car is the hot pink one with the light pink racing stripe.

The track

Camille at the end of the track during a test run.

random pics

2010-03-24T21:43:00.004-06:00

Camille dressed up in Matt's childhood cowboy hat for "Texas day" in Kindergarten. She was very proud to wear that hat.

Lily's room finally got some curtains. To quote Lily, "The curtains are only for decoration, pink-white-pink-white-pink-white-pink-white."

Camille and Lily showing off in dress up clothes. Lily's skirt is loved by all as a bridal veil.

2010-03-01T20:45:00.002-06:00

The happy family. We almost never have pictures of all four of us together. Except for the facts that I haven't been able to get Camille to agree to a hair trimmed and both girls are showing their gum in the picture, it's cute enough.

Grandma and Great Grandma Peg bought Camille and Lily new Easter dresses last week. When I told the girls they could go try them on and model them for me I didn't expect all the accessories!

Record snow for Dallas!

2010-02-13T22:53:00.009-06:00

Friday morning we woke up to this even more impressive snow. It was so beautiful! School was canceled. The whole neighborhood was out playing in the snow. The news reported we got 12.5 inches at DFW airport within 24 hours (an all-time record for Dallas). We have to keep in mind that as it snowed all day on Thursday much of the snow was also melting. So, while the snow was amazingly deep to us, it didn't look like a full foot of snow.

We saw these rabbit tracks through the now. I bet that bunny is still trying to figure out what happened here!

Camille making a snow angel.

See the depth of the snow!

Matt pulled the kids around on the kneeboard from our summer sports.

Thursday morning snow

2010-02-13T22:43:00.002-06:00

Here is the snow we woke up to on Thursday morning. Camille enjoyed playing around for a while as we waited for the school bus. The bus was running late, so she had extra time to goof around. You can't see it in the pictures, but there was thick slush all along the pavement and street. I told Camille she couldn't walk in the snow because I didn't want her shoes to be wet at school, but it ended up being impossible to keep Camille from kicking the slush. I know her feet were wet by the time she left, but fortunately she said it didn't bother her at school. It was snowing in the morning and continued all day!

After Camille went to school I suited Lily up and took her outside to play in the snow. She had a blast!

Assorted pictures

2010-02-13T22:20:00.002-06:00

Fudge giving Camille a kiss.

Camille made this snowman out of 100 buttons for her 100th day of Kindergarten celebration. It was fortuitous considering the major snow to come several days later.

Ah, Lily feeding Fudge. Such a help! And this was a relatively small amount of food spilled on the floor.

Camille's baptism cake

2010-02-08T10:39:00.003-06:00

This is the cake I made to celebrate Camille's baptism. We love creamcheese frosting around here! We had all four of Camille's grandparents and two great grandparents over for lunch to celebrate. Camille was baptized on Nana's birthday. My mom also made a cake to celebrate Carol (Nana's) birthday, but I forgot to give Matt Camille's camera to get the pictures off. It was an adorable oval cherry chip cake with chocolate frosting. Very tasty!!

Camille's baptism

2010-02-08T10:02:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago Camille asked Jesus into her heart. We are so happy about her decision!! She was baptized yesterday at church. She was extremely excited, not a bit nervous. I was the one with butterflies in my stomach. I stood with her behind the scenes in the dressing room, while Matt, Nana, Papa, Grandma and Grandpa watched from the congregation. I'm glad we got it on video tape because I wasn't really able to watch the actual baptism. I just put my camera out to get a picture. The congregation laughed out loud during it, and I had to ask 3 times before I could get someone back stage to tell me what happened. Camille was just wanting to make sure she got her nose plugged and was anxious to go under. She was holding her nose really early, and then she realized that it wasn't time so she put her hand down. When Martin turned her she realized the time was approaching but really he had some more things to say. Camille jumped the gun, plugged her nose and was arching backward in his arms. Everyone started laughing and he just went ahead and dunked her. Matt took video which I got to watch last night. I've never heard the congregation laugh out during a baptism. Only Camille! You know, when she went down to the front of the church to share her decision a few weeks ago, she was so excited that she literally skipped/jumped over to Pastor Steve with a huge smile on her face! The congregation laughed out loud then too. Camille knows how to be the center of attention!

Camping trip

2010-02-08T09:45:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures from a Camping trip that Matt and Camille took with the YMCA Princesses program the weekend before last. It was cold weekend!! Note the snowy cactus.

Camille's friend Madison and her Dad went as well. It was nice for Camille to have someone her age in the troop. Here they are enjoying a fruit rollup at the scenic overlook. Matt said the camp was very beautiful and the cabins were great.

Matt said the chapel service near the overlook was very windy and cold!

Madison and Camille in a patch of snow.

They enjoyed a horseback ride. Camille's horse just poked along, not in any hurry. Camille and Madison loved it.

Friends and a wedding??

2010-01-29T18:43:00.004-06:00

We had 2 families from church over last weekend. The adults has a nice time talking and the kids had a blast playing together. I took the group picture with my camera, but I didn't know about the wedding that apparently went on upstairs. I was looking through pictures on Camille's digital camera and found the one of the happy couple, Colby and Camille. It looks like Evan was the best man and Abby must have been the photographer. Perhaps Lily and little Aaron were wedding guests! The bride was wearing a velvet wedding dress and a white skirt turned upside down to be a veil.

Happy New Year

2010-01-29T18:26:00.003-06:00

Oops, I thought I was caught up with pictures, but I forgot about New Years Eve. The girls were excited to celebrate. We had special treats after dinner, special potato chips, candy still left from Halloween and special grape/black cherry juice. It was cold and rainy earlier in the day. We drove to buy some sparklers on the 31st (way to think ahead, Steph), and luckily the girls were good and stayed in the car while I hopped through the mud to get to the fireworks stand.

It was quite cold that evening, but not raining. Camille and Lily showed off their Baylor spirit, even if we appear to have no sense of fashion:)

Matt had the idea to use the grill to light the sparklers, and that worked nicely. Plus there was the added benefit of the grill heat to warm us up a little bit. Both girls were thrilled with the sparklers.

Last cake decorating class

2010-01-26T00:01:00.002-06:00

Here is my last cake of my decorating class. I was pleased how this turned out. It tastes the best of all the cakes I've made because I used a different icing. I learned a lot in the class.

Cake decorating

2010-01-22T23:53:00.003-06:00

This is my first cake from cake decorating class. Considering I am a person who makes yummy but not so pretty birthday cakes, I was pleased with how it turned out.

I initially thought the clown cake was a dumb idea, but it ended up being pretty fun to make. We started learning how to make roses for next week, and I couldn't resist going ahead and putting them on my cake too. It's a hodge-podge of decoration techniques I was trying out. The clown sitting on the left is Lily. The middle clown had a long body and legs. At the class I called him Uncle Doug, but the kids now call the clown Daddy. The clown lying down on the right is Camille.

When I got home from class last week I practiced with the rest of my icing. I used Camille's finger and made a rose. She was thrilled and then ate it up!

Smith animal news

2010-01-22T23:41:00.004-06:00

Kady cat loves the guinea pig, or at least she loves to cuddle up next to him. Maybe she figures she'll just patiently wait until I'm not looking and the cage comes open. Kady has actually become too interested in Fudgy, even swatting at him recently. So, now when Fudge comes out, Kady has to be shut in my room.

Kady may think insulting thoughts about Fudge being a rodent, but now we just have to call Kady "potty mouth." I find her drinking from the toilet all the time now. It's her favorite place. She doesn't even touch her water bowl anymore. This is her "you're bothering me look." She hardly runs off anymore when you find her on the toilet. One night I went to use the bathroom without turning on the light and felt her swish out from under me as I sat down. We almost had one wet, squished cat! Even the kids potty seats don't deter her.

Today we had fun building an impromptu ramp for Fudge to see if he could get in and out of the cage by himself. The first try he ran right up the ramp and into his cage. The 2nd try he took a while and then finally ran home. Tonight we tried again and he was having too much fun running around, with no interest in going home. Fudge cannot get out by himself because he can't climb. Camille really wanted to build him a ramp inside, but it's really not going to work.

2010-01-22T23:36:00.004-06:00

Goofy kids! I heard the girls playing and then came in to find Lily crammed into the doll cradle and Camille rocking her to sleep. She even found Daddy's sweatshirt to use as a "blanket."

Gotta love Shrinky Dinks! (They're called something else now, but you heat them in the oven just like when I was a kid.) Camille and Lily both had fun making some with Aunt Krissie.

Camille funny

2010-01-21T23:24:00.002-06:00

This funny story is from way back at Thanksgiving. Camille's class dressed up as Pilgrims and Native Americans for a school feast. She was very proud of her school-made costume, which I did agree was clever. I didn't attend the feast. When she got home she put on her Pilgrim costume. While she was putting on the apron (made from a white kitchen trash bag) she said, "I know it's a trash bag, but it's what they wore!!" Poor thing was confused!

White Christmas!

2010-01-21T22:58:00.002-06:00

Christmas Eve snow 2009 in Dallas! Camille and Lily had a blast catching snowflakes on their tongues and writing their names in the snow.

Cookies for Santa.

Sometimes even on Christmas eve kids won't cooperate for pictures

2010-01-21T22:43:00.002-06:00

We went to visit Camille and Lily's friend Daniel and my friend Becky in east Texas. Somehow, I didn't end up getting a picture of Camille. They were all moving all the time.

The kids were cute at my birthday dinner. They both helped me blow out my candle.

One day I got out my flute and let Camille try it. That inspired Matt to get out his trumpet too. Camille really liked honking on the trumpet.

Here are the girls with their new bear/dog from Build A Bear.

2010-01-21T22:18:00.006-06:00

We made a trip to Frisco to see their Christmas lights outside. It was impressive. We waited in a very long line to ride the train around. At the last minute Camille was allowed to sit alone up in the front of the train. No adults were allowed up there, Because the train drove quite a long way, we couldn't allow Lily to ride in the front. Lily was devistated to be left out and threw a huge fit, not wanting to get in another car with me. Luckily we were locked in and after we got going, Lily decided to enjoy the ride! The pictures show Lily at the beginning and the end of the ride.

We got there early because Santa was supposed to parachute out of an airplane. It was quite cold, but the kids had a great time playing around a fountain and just generally goofing around. Because of clouds, Santa didn't jump after all. Bummer.

Fire hats at Fire House subs. Do you see Lily giving the thumbs up?

More thumbs up. The girls are nuts for creamcheese fruit dip and strawberries!

Since I've been staying home I've had time to volunteer at Camile's school. This day all the kindergarten classes were having a project together making pinatas. The kids were impressively quiet and well-behaved.

Belated Christmas concert photos

2010-01-21T21:04:00.004-06:00

Yes, I'm absurdly behind on posting to the blog. Sorry!

Lily was excited and had fun in her first Christmas concert at school. Lily was very distracted during the concert by teachers running things on the side, as well as the necessary props around like cords an CD players. She was so cute up there in her red and black dress!

Before the concert the kids were literally climbing the walls out in the hall!

Camille also had a great time singing in her Christmas concert with her choir at church. Lily was excited to sit in the audience. When the first song for Camille's choir class started Lily, called out "Hey, I know that. It's Camille's song!" (We had listened to the songs often in the car to help Camille learn them.) Lily sang all the words to Camille's songs loudly during the performance, entertaining the people around us. Camille was put in charge of her friend in the choir (a boy who also has autism) by his mother. She just asked Camille to remind the boy to behave. The boy really likes Camille, always wanting to stand next to Camille, but Camille took the job to heart and a bit overboard. What can you expect from a 6 year-old who likes to be in charge! Later in the Christmas program (which was in mid December) the narrator said "It's Christmas!" and then with laughter in her voice like she had just been told a joke, Lily called out loudly "No it isn't!" She took it literally, knowing that day wasn't Christmas day. For some unknown reason later on during applause Lily put up her bear claw and called out "Hey, Sic 'em Bears!"

Here are pictures from Matt and Camille's YMCA Princess float. They decorated the fishing boat and really had to bundle up because the temperature was in the 20s that day!!

Chicken bra

2009-12-02T22:48:00.002-06:00

I thought this was funny, but Matt said it must have been funnier at the time. You be the judge. Lily found an empty Victoria's secret bag on my bed. She asked me why I had a "present bag" out. I explained that it was just a shopping bag that they gave me when I bought a bra at the store. She paused and asked "chicken bra?" Then I paused for a while and then Lily added "Chicken bra that we put on chicken." She was referring to chicken broth. Whoops.

Baylor vs UT game

2009-12-02T09:13:00.003-06:00

When we were in Waco for the Baylor vs UT football game the UT marching band was rehearsing across the street from GG and Boppy's house. I took the girls over to watch. We provided entertainment for the band members as the girls danced to the music and Lily practiced her conducting!

The stadium was quite filled with UT fans. You can see the sea of orange in the Baylor stadium.

Photos with Boppy and GG. GG was sick with a cold and trying not to pass it around.

Lily's 3rd birthday pictures (Nov 7th)

2009-12-02T08:53:00.004-06:00

I don't know what I accidently pushed that's making the words show up on the left side of the page.

Here are pictures from Lily's birthday party with family. She is already saying she's "three and a half."

Camille had a homework project to do, and Lily got in on the fun too.

Camille lost her second tooth on Lily's birthday! (She lost her first tooth on Matt's birthday.)

Lily's new dress!

Indian Princess campout

2009-12-01T22:52:00.002-06:00

Camille's fun with Matt during her campout with Daddy in October. They had a great time!

Halloween

2009-12-01T22:46:00.002-06:00

Church fall carnival

Camille was a butterfly fairy, and Lily was a rainbow fairy.

Lily at her Primrose costume parade

October fun

2009-12-01T22:31:00.004-06:00

Camille and Lily's pumpkins

Slingshot to propel rotten fruit to hit the pumpkin target. The kids thought this was fantastic!

Camille and Matt participate in the YMCA Indian Princesses program. They invited families to a costume party and pumpkin decorating contest. Camille and Lily had a great time. The weather was wonderful.

Launching rotten fruit on a trailer-mounted catapult.

Camille's friend Madison had a pumpkin-decorating birthday party. Camille's not the shortest kid there!

Camille and Madison

October Baylor homecoming photos

2009-12-01T22:24:00.003-06:00

Camille was home sick with a fever. Lily enjoyed being the only grandchild with Nana and Papa.

Engrossed in the football game or the popcorn?

Bear growel? Lily loves to make "mean" faces.

Lily couldn't hold out any longer, even with all the excitement.

We're still here!

2009-11-25T16:07:00.002-06:00

Yes, we're still here. Much has changed in our daily routine. My last day at my job was Nov 9th. I'm into my 3rd week of being a full-time mom and wife. It's great! I've been staying very busy trying to catch up on all of the things that we've put off doing over the last few months. With the holidays here, it's extremely nice to have time to help out with the cooking and not to be juggling weekend work to make up for taking the holiday off. I'm enjoying more time with the kids, and I know they are too. My extended family keeps telling me that I look much happier--(I guess that means I'm not acting like a stressed out grump.) I'm feeling very content at the moment. So, now hopefully I'll catch up on blog postings soon.

Finishing up Camille's birthday party

2009-10-02T20:57:00.002-06:00

All the birthday party kids after lots of bouncing.

Cake time!

2009-10-02T20:30:00.002-06:00

After bouncing at Camille's birthday party the kids were ready for cupcakes!

Camille's party at "Pump It Up"

2009-10-02T20:06:00.004-06:00

Camille had a blast at her birthday party at "Pump It Up." These were the kids ready to start at the beginning. Other kids came a bit late.

Watching a safety video before getting to play. This slide was one of the kids favorite parts, but there were many different inflatable things to play on.

Yes, that's Matt with Camille and Lily coming down the slide a few pictures down.

Camille's birthday pictures

2009-10-02T19:42:00.004-06:00

Yes I do know that Camille's birthday was on September 19th. I can't believe she's already 6 years old! She was very excited about this special day. It was nice to have her birthday fall on a Saturday! Camille felt like a birthday princess all day! Grandma and Mommy both bought her birthday ribbons.

Both girls loved helping decorate 48 cupcakes to feed party guests and parents. We had quite a few left over.

For lunch we took Camille to Chili's. She was so excited to have her first time at a restaurant where the waiters sing Happy Birthday to her. She was all smiles (not shy a bit)!

Camille loved the excitement of the dessert, but Lily loved the dessert itself!

Saying goodbye

2009-09-16T20:59:00.002-06:00

Camille and Lily had to say goodbye to their neighbor friend Daniel today. His family is moving to Lampasas this weekend. We'll miss them!

Camille's homework

2009-09-16T20:55:00.003-06:00

Camille was very enthusiastic to do this (one of many) kindergarten homework projects. In this project she adopted a tree in the yard to watch throughout the year. She studied the tree and drew several different required pictures about the tree, plus doing a leaf rubbing. I moved her table out into the yard so she could face the tree (and not the sun) while doing her art.

Camille's first day riding the bus to school

2009-09-02T09:48:00.004-06:00

Camille getting on the bus. I had to yell at her to turn around so I could get a picture, though as you can see not the best one. Then she bounded on the bus. She didn't even wave at me from the bus. She feels so big!!

Here she is driving away on the bus.

This picture is the girls waiting for the bus to arrive at the bus stop on the 2nd morning of Kindergarten. In the mornings I put Lily in the stroller and we walk Camille to the bus stop.

Camille's first day of Kindergarten

2009-09-02T09:27:00.003-06:00

Camille started Kindergarten last Monday. She was very excited, not nervous at all. She goes to Kimberlin Academy, a gifted and talented magnet school in the Garland ISD. It's not in the most affluent part of town. Matt and I drove Camille to school on the first day. She wanted to ride the bus to school on the first day, so after lots of talking we compromised on letting her ride home from school on the bus on the first day. The school assigned her a 5th grade bus buddy who picked her up at her classroom, took her to the bus, and sat with her on the bus. That was comforting for both her and me!

On the afternoon of her first day of school I drove over from work to the end of our street and parked to wait for the bus. When her bus arrived arrived, Camille asked me why I didn't just let her walk home by herself. She actually refused to get in the car, skipping down the sidewalk to our house while I followed in the car. Since then she's been agreeable to get in the car.

Camille was excited to get into her classroom and put her supplies into her new pink supply box. She hardly looked back at us as we left her classroom.

"I stink"

2009-09-02T09:09:00.002-06:00

I wouldn't have guessed it, but Camille and Lily's favorite book to listen to on Bookflix is called "I stink." The whole story is told by a garbage truck. They love to squeal about how gross it is!

Lily put her pink blankie on her head. She said "I'm Mary and this is God." How cute!

Cats and pigs and fish, oh my!

2009-08-11T20:38:00.003-06:00

Since we adopted Hot Fudge, I've felt like I'm living in a pet shop with the cat, the guinea pig and the fish to think about. Well, recently I've felt more like a veterinarian. Kady cat got sick with a respiratory infection of some kind. She goes around the house sneezing and snorting, and I have to hold her down for medication twice a day. Yesterday the guinea pig got sick with an upset stomach. The bad thing about guinea pigs is that if they get sick, they can die pretty quickly. Last night I pretty much thought he was a goner and I made sure to have the girls hold him and say goodbyes. Well, the pig made it through last night but wasn't looking good at all. I've been giving him water and dissolved food by syringes multiple times today. While he doesn't look normal, I have to say that he's now fighting the feedings more (which seems to be a sign of strength). I also got him some medicine to slow down his system. Today I bought him some Timothy Hay, which several people on the internet recommended. He was interested in sniffing but not eating. I'm hoping the pig will be able to recover.

Kady cat, on the other hand, was very interested in the hay! In fact, while I was trying to syringe feed the pig, Kady decided to get all the way in Fudge's cage to get his hay. When I got Camille to come over and hold the pig for me, Kady wanted no part of coming out of the cage. She grumbled and stiffened up when I tried to pull her out so that I couldn't have gotten her out of that little opening. She did pretty soon come out after some heavy scolding! Kady doesn't seem to have any instinct that the pig would be food, but I certainly wouldn't leave her alone with him.

Here is a picture from last week when Fudge decided it was okay to eat food that Lily was holding. Lily thought this was just the best!

(From last week)
We have a little fence that we set up on the tile, and we made him a little house which he loves to hide in.

Summer fun

2009-08-11T20:31:00.002-06:00

Lily and Camille love to paint! They were very excited to paint bird houses. We even used stencils, but the finished products are not so impressive because the girls painted over the stencil work. Oh well.

Camille wanted her picture taken here. Doesn't she look grown up here?

Lily got her first set of stitches last week after an encounter with the coffee table at Nana and Papa's house. It's something of a miracle that my active (wild) children haven't needed stitches before now! Lily has done well with them. Hopefully the tape will fall off soon so we can go back to the pool!

Our newest adoption!

2009-07-23T20:28:00.002-06:00

Meet our newest adopted furry friend. His name is Hot Fudge. He is the sweetest baby guinea pig! Camille and Lily adore him (especially Camille). We decared adoption day to be his birthday, and we had a hot fudge sundae party to celebrate!

dance class

2009-07-23T20:17:00.003-06:00

Camille has taken her first dance class this summer, just for 6 weeks. They did ballet, tap and tumbling. I think Camille likes getting dressed up the best. She doesn't want to wear the tights because they make her too hot. We got to sit in on the last class, but it was difficult to take pictures. I mostly videotaped for Matt, who was out of town. She's thin and looks like a dancer all dressed up, but like anything else it would take a lot of work to get good at it.

I'm concerned about over-involving her next year when she starts kindergarten. Camille told me that she wants to do Gymnastics, church choir, ballet and piano. I think we'll just stick with the first two and then see how the year goes. If she did all those things, she would unfortunately be eating a lot of quick dinners like PB&J and scrambled eggs. I'm not sure the rest of us would like that meal situation!

2009-07-23T20:07:00.002-06:00

Daddy's birthday cake. He's the big 33.

Camille lost her first tooth on Daddy's birthday. She was so brave about it. I guess we can't deny that she's growing up!

Popsicles outdoors. Always a good excuse not to wear clothes:)

Lily's been feeding the cat again!

C and L love to paint. Here they're working on painting wooden hooks that we are making to hang PJs on in their rooms. They later stenciled flowers on (though that's not in the picture). Unfortunately we've been so busy that we haven't gotten around to finishing the project yet.

Photo catch-up

2009-07-23T19:50:00.003-06:00

Camille and Lily enjoying the slip-n-slide in the backyard.

Our new patio cover.

I taught Camille to needlepoint this summer. She likes to do it while watching TV and while riding in the car.

Ready for a bike ride? (I don't know what's with the jump rope around Camille's waist. Maybe it's a leash.)

Lily loves to be free of clothes in the back yard. Both girls love to play with the hose and in our little back yard inflatable pool. This is what we found the other day.

Matt and Jamey's side-trip

2009-07-07T22:46:00.004-06:00

While Matt and Jamey drove back to Texas from Colorado (the girls flew home) they took a side trip way up high. They actually saw some snow. This visitor center is only open a few months each year because most of the year it's under snow.

They saw elk grazing!

This tree line is interesting, above which no trees grow. Above the tree line there is only tundra, which Matt reports takes many years to grow.

This was a whole bunch of steps up to the top of a rock!!

Steamboat vacation

2009-07-07T22:29:00.006-06:00

This whole building is two units of a duplex. It was impressive inside and out. Camille and Lily called it "Our Colorado House." The next pictures show the view from the driveway looking out.

After rain, the clouds were actually at our level.

The bike trails were great. We took a family adventure on the bikes. The first day we tried, Matt ended up getting a flat tire, and we had to abort. The next day we went, we spent time at the aborteum on the trail and then ended up riding back in pouring down rain. It was an impressively wet and cold ride back.

We called him a Baylor bear.

There were signs around the arboretum with "secret trails" and Camille thought these were an exciting adventure.

Alpine Slide--Steamboat

2009-07-07T22:23:00.002-06:00

Camille, Matt and Papa rode up the chairlift and then rode down a big slide down the side of the mountain. Camille had a blast and did it several times, braver each time. Matt said by the end she was telling him to go faster.

Waterfall in Steamboat

2009-07-07T22:12:00.004-06:00

We hiked to an impressive waterfall. The photos don't really capture the scale of it. Lily insisted on walking with her hands in her pockets.

Steamboat

2009-07-07T22:07:00.002-06:00

After riding up the gondola we ate lunch and hiked a bit. Lily was hard to take along because all she wanted to do was play in the gravel. She did it over and over, and wouldn't keep walking. We aborted the hike. Beautiful scenery!!

Steamboat

2009-07-07T21:59:00.006-06:00

While on vacation in Steamboat, we rode the Gondola up and ate lunch at the top. Camille and Lily loved riding, and did so four times up and down with Nana and Papa. Matt and I took our bikes up and rode down the mountain bike trails twice. It was lots of fun! The hard core mountain biker were riding UP the mountain!! No thankyou!!!! On another day we found a place that you can drive to, not quite half way up the mountain. Jamey dropped us off with our bikes again to ride down. We decided to take another trail, but we didn't realize it was going to be quite a bit of riding up hill before going down. It was rough but we made it!

Hiking at the top.

Portrait Innovations

2009-07-07T21:16:00.005-06:00

Children's museum

2009-07-07T21:01:00.003-06:00

On the first week of my summer off of work, Matt worked really hard to get a day off to be with the family. We planned to go to the zoo, but instead it poored down rain all day and night. In fact, when we arrived at the children's museum we found that much of it was closed due to flooding overnight. The girls had a great time anyway with what was open.

Digging for dinosaur bones.

Not the most flattering view of Bessie, here.

Mirrored illusions.

"Why the big kid blooded in our car?"

2009-07-07T20:40:00.002-06:00

Last week we awoke to excitement because someone broke into Matt's car overnight. The car was in our driveway off the alley because our new fan was spread out in the garage overnight awaiting the installation of our new patio cover. I heard the car alarm going off but I assumed it was our neighbors again. Ultimately, the alarm must have been what scared them off when they reached through and unlocked the door. A neighbor a few doors down had her stereo stollen. The person was apparently cut significantly because of lots of blood in the car. I went to pick up the car this afternoon, and they hadn't gotten the blood out completely. Hopefully tomorrow since we're now dealing with my car's airconditioner that's gone out for the 3rd time in 6 weeks. I'm telling you, it's hot in Dallas this week!

The police suspect that this was the work of kids on summer break. Lily and Camille have spent time trying to put into words their questions and what might have happened. They're not scared, just curious.

reading with great grandparents

2009-06-10T16:11:00.002-06:00

Camille and Lily adore having their great grandparents around, especially for a captive audience! The girls were both "reading" to them.

Camille's last uniform day

2009-06-10T16:09:00.002-06:00

I think Camille looks cute in her uniform and she adored the plaid! No more uniform next year--public school here we come!

Camille and the naked chef

2009-06-10T16:02:00.003-06:00

When we were baking a cake for my mom's birthday the girls loved to help. I had to laugh at the attire!

Licking the beaters while in the pool!

2009-06-10T15:51:00.003-06:00

Camille and Lily loved playing in the backyard pool for the first time this summer, even if the water was icy! They were excited to try out their goggles and love them because water doesn't splash in their eyes (not because they have any idea to hold their breath under water).

I was making a cake for my friend's birthday. The girls helped me bake the cake earlier in the day, and then Matt watched the girls outside while I iced the cake. Outside in the pool was a perfect place to lick the beaters! Even Matt decided to join in the action with a spoon of the cream cheese icing.

Camille stared for long periods at the decorated cake. She was very impressed and declared that she wants her birthday cake "exactly like it with all kinds of fruit except blueberries." Then she said that I could put blueberries on one half of it for Lily:) Camille is always thinking and I chuckle all the time.

Lily and Camille are such cuties

2009-06-10T15:44:00.002-06:00

I couldn't resist taking these photos before church. Camille was more cooperative than Lily.

In this photo the girls were crouched down looking at a worm or something.

Several years ago we planted a seedling red oak tree from an acorn off our backyard tree. The tree has had a rough start to life, including being totally wacked off by a weedwhip from our lawn people a year ago. This year it's doubled in size. Maybe it will actually grow into a tree.

Camille's preschool graduation

2009-06-10T15:26:00.002-06:00

Camille's preschool had a graduation ceremony for the kids. Since Camille has been in the private Kindergarten class this year, she was up with them (which included 2 other pre-kindergarteners). Camille was very lucky to have this class with such a small number of kids. The 2 pre-K classes at Primrose were full with, I'm guessing, 20 kids each.

They sang some songs with props. Camille was very into the singing, and was quite a goof up there on stage. She couldn't keep her graduation had on and became obsessed with it. Finally she just left it off.

Here's Camille with her friends Jaden, Gabe and Annie.

Here's Camille with her friend Madison, who will be going to the same school as Camille next year.

Camille's first solo at church

2009-06-10T15:00:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry it's been a long time since I've posted on the blog. I'll try to catch up.

Camille's children's choir at church sang on a Sunday evening back in May. Camille and another girl each sang a short solo. It was very cute and Camille sang out strong and followed the director.

It was hard to get good pictures without the flash.

In this photo the 2 soloists are standing in front as the microphones are adjusted before the song. This photo captures Camille laughing after she just said "hola" into the microphone. She insists that it was the other kid, but our video tape suggests otherwise.

Kid funnies

2009-05-02T12:55:00.003-06:00

I thought this was funny from a while back. We were talking about why we cannot spend money on everything that we would like because we need to save money for Camille and Lily to go to Baylor if they want to. Camille said "If you don't have enough money in the bank for Baylor, I have a lot of money in my piggybank. Open it up and get as much money as you need."

In a separate story, also from a while back, we were at the car wash where you go inside and watch your car as it goes through the wash. There was a man also waiting for his car. When he opened his bottle of Coke, it fizzed over and spilled on the floor. Lily went right over to him and told him "You have to be careful!"

For several months Lily had been saying "libidit" for little bit and "baininin" for vitamin. It's so cute!

In the song Row Row Row Your Boat, Lily says "Mer-Lily, Mer-Lily, Mer-Lily, Mer-Lily, Life i but a DREAM."

Sunset

2009-03-23T21:57:00.002-06:00

2009 Bluebonnets pictures

2009-03-23T21:37:00.007-06:00

Lily was not enthusiastic about the wind and the sun!

Wade's birthday party

2009-03-23T21:15:00.003-06:00

Lily and Camille had a great time on Saturday at our friend Wade's birthday part at The Little Gym. When Wade started to blow out his candles it didn't work on the first try, and Lily started to get up and help him. Fortunately he blew them out in time! I think in this picture Lily is singing Happy Birthday.

Lily did not want me to hold her hands.

Lily and Camille both loved rolling along this wheel.

This shows Lily falling off the bar--she never lost her smile.

This isn't the most flattering picture, but Camille loves to swing like a monkey!

Primrose Spring Parade

2009-03-23T21:11:00.004-06:00

New lawn chairs

2009-03-23T20:48:00.002-06:00

Here are Lily and Camille eating supper outside on the porch on their new lawn chairs that Nana bought them while visiting on Spring Break. They are so cute, and the girls love them, though too short for our adult patio table:)

The other day I was fixing dinner while the girls were outside playing. I thought it was so cute that they both took their chairs over to the corner of the patio looking at the planter (in which they planted seeds with Nana). They just look so grown up sitting there together!

Camille and Lily were so excited once Nana finally arrived!

Camille and Lily love to cuddle with Daddy on the couch.

Trip to Robby's ranch

2009-02-24T22:02:00.004-06:00

Camille got a shiner while goofing around and hitting the corner of a table near her eye. She was lucky she didn't hit directly on her eye! The bruise was actually more impressive in person than captured in this picture but it's healing up nicely.

My goofy girls love to play in my bed!

Camille and Lily were both very excited to prepare their valentines for a parties at school. On Valentine morning we gave the girls new stuffed animals. I'll have to get a picture of them later. Camille first named her red bear "Rose," but as the day progressed the name morphed into Rosalinda Bear. I have no idea where she came up with that! Lily got a valentine animal is a puppy and she calls it Rosalinda Puppy, as much as Camille has tried to encourage Lily to call it something else! Lily wants to be just like Camille.

Fishing at Uncle Robby's ranch. Lily caught her first fish!

2009-02-11T22:31:00.002-06:00

Picture from the ice day that we had two weeks ago. Camille's hat cracks me up in the pictures. The walk was covered with ice! Unfortunately after this picture I put the camera inside and then I was worrying so much about telling them to stand still and wait that I ended up falling myself on the ice. I've had a lot of back pain since then. I finally went to the doctor last weekend and he gave me medicine that has worked to reduce the inflamation which was apparently pinching a nerve in my lower spine. I feel much, much better.

Las Vegas pictures

2009-02-11T21:36:00.009-06:00

Matt and I had a great long weekend getaway to Las Vegas. Matt had been there on business once, but this was my first trip there. It was pretty cool to see the mountains all around with Las Vegas plunked right in the middle with homes running right up to the baren mountains in many places. I've never seen an airport view like this! I liked seeing the Grand Canyon from the airplane. I'd like to see it in person sometime.

That is a hotel on the Vegas strip, right by the airport and with the mountains in the background.

These pictures at night are from an open air nightclub at the top of the Rio hotel. It was an amazing view, though we couldn't hold the camera still enough to get a clear picture. We were glad to have the heater fans blowing on us, and I borrowed Matt's coat.

The hotels were so bright at night and very impressive in size. We spent lots of time walking around and looking in the different hotels. It was difficult to get perspective of distance when outside because the hotels are so large and so close. It would always seem like a hotel was much closer than it really was.

The hotels were all extravagently decorated for the Chinese New Year. Our favorite hotel was the Bellagio.

Lobby in the Bellagio

Those flowers are made from glass.

Amazing fountains in front of the Bellagio run every 15 minutes to music and choreography. It was so impressive. I could have stood there all day! It's a beautiful hotel inside and outside.

This is kind of a funny picture because the camera is tilted upwards. Look at the view out the window of our hotel room on the 36th floor.

Hotel room pictures.

This picture is deceiving. The left wall is mirrors. To the right is a wall made of window.

The casino in our hotel. It was nice being in a new hotel because it didn't smell so strong of smoke.

Lobby of our hotel. The picture doesn't capture the beauty and drama of it. It was very bright red with Aisan influence and the staff was impeccably put together.

View out the window of our hotel. We were on the 36th floor, about half way up.

We faced away from the Vegas strip.

Our hotel was the back one, Encore. They are so big when you get up close to them!

This is a hotel called New York New York. Yes, that's a rollercoaster on top.

This is the inside of a mall, I believe in the Paris hotel! Look at that ceiling! The Venitian hotel has the same type of ceiling, but arched and even more impressive.

Both sets of grandparents split time taking care of Camille and Lily while we were gone.

Here's Lily and Camille with Nana.

Lily and Camille with Papa.

Kady's birthday

2009-01-26T21:30:00.004-06:00

When 2009 started I let Camille buy a new calendar for herself. She wanted to mark important dates on the calendar. She asked when Kady the cat's birthday is. I told her I didn't know and so she designated Jan 22nd as Kady's birthday. Camille has been counting down the days. Camille was very excited about Kady's birthday finally arriving. The night before Kady's birthday the girls made string and bead toys for Kady. Camille decided that Kady would like her gifts in a Clifford bag (which is amusing to me because Kady would hate nothing more than a dog!). They were so excited on Kady's birthday they had to give her the birthday presents in the morning. Kady does like the toys, especially the one with the beads. (In fact, Kady's playing with it right now tied to a door handle.)

That evening we had a little party for Kady. I found a single steak on discount at Walmart and we 3 girls shared it, sharing a little bit with Kady. (Matt was out of town so he didn't get any steak.) I also bought a slice of cake for us to split. I let the girls individually sing happy birthday to Kady and blow out her own candle. They loved it so much they did it multiple times. Lily was excited to dig into the cake. Camille was also very enthusiastic!

random pics

2009-01-26T21:15:00.003-06:00

Sisters!

Lily wearing her her beloved "pink blankie" (Gigi's hand towel) as a "scarf."

Excuse the disaster zone, once known as my living room. The girls were both playing with their leap frog units (actually each other's units because anything that belongs to someone else is certainly better than your own.)

This picture just cracks me up because it looks like the pig is picking his nose.

Stephanie's short haircut

2009-01-03T22:00:00.002-06:00

2009-01-03T21:47:00.002-06:00

Lily got to wear her cute new outfit from Aunt Kristine because today's weather was more like spring than winter.

Tonight we went to Pump It Up for a birthday a party for Camille's school friend Jaidan. Camille and Lily both had a blast on the inflatable slides, etc. Matt got a workout as well carrying Lily up the slides over and over.

Cereal

2008-12-29T22:19:00.002-06:00

When Lily refers to the cereal Honey Bunches of Oats she consistently calls it "Hunchey Boats." I think it's so cute! This has been going on for a few weeks and it has thrown me off many times.

Grandma's e-mail

2008-12-28T22:15:00.002-06:00

This is a cute story from when my mom had both girls in the car with her on Christmas Eve. My mom wrote me in an e-mail:

On the drive over here this afternoon Lily said "MY Grandma!" Camille responded "She's my grandma too!" "No," Lily replied [large pause], "Get your own." Not exactly the spirit of the season, but funny nonetheless.

Girls and dolls

2008-12-28T21:47:00.003-06:00

Camille and Lily love having new PJs that match each other and their dolls. Thanks Nana! Santa brought Lily a new doll which didn't interest her on Christmas morning, but Lily has since bonded with Suzanna (named by her great grandfather, Boppy). With Lily in the crib tonight are 5 animals, Suzanna, and 3 blankies. Time to upgrade to the king size crib!

Camille and Lily enjoyed decorating sugar cookies on Christmas morning. We all enjoyed eating them! (I don't know how this started underlining, and now I can't get rid of it!)